Ironically, when I was planning this trip I had never heard of Jungle Side, nor did it come up in any of my searches. I had been to SAI Sanctuary before and was hoping to stay there. They were still looking for staff to run their guest houses so arranged for us to stay at Jungle Side which is only a few minutes down the road from them.
Jungle Side is not easy to find. 
We took a bus from Gonikoppal to T-Shettigeri, where we had been told to get out and take a taxi to the lodge. We had trouble finding someone who spoke English well enough so a kind local used his cell phone to call Mr Muthanna who is the owner of Jungle Side and was able to explain to the taxi driver where to take us and negotiate a price.
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Once we arrived, the Muthannas showed us to a charming cottage with beautiful views of a river and their garden. They immediately offered us tea (chai) which we both love and really miss when we are back home.
They are building another cottage next door to this one.
Meals are included in the price and I had already asked my friends at SAI to tell the Muthannas that we don’t like spicy food. I don’t think they quite believed us as the first night was less spicy than a local guest would like but once I was able to convince them we didn’t want ANY chilis or capsicums at all, subsequent meals were really good! We really got a good night’s sleep here, it’s so peaceful and quiet!
The next morning, we woke up to very thick fog blanketing the whole area.
My heart sank, I knew birds would be very difficult to spot, never mind photograph! In tomorrow’s post, I will show you more of the bird life in the property of Jungle Side.
You have to book this property directly with the owners. In Nov 2013 we paid 4000 rupees for a double room with full board just as a ballpark figure for you. This was mid week and low season. If you are staying longer, they also have a list of other activities you can do in the Coorg (aka Kodagu) region which includes visiting coffee estates and river rafting!
They are small birds – 20–22 cm (7.9–8.7 in) long with a strong dark beak and long wings. The male has black upperparts and head, and scarlet underparts, tail edges, rump and wing patches. The shape and colour of the wing patches and the shade or orange in the male varies across populations. In the subspecies nigroluteus and marchesae from south Philippines the scarlet/orange is entirely replaced by yellow.
The female is grey above, with yellow underparts (including the face), tail edges, rump and wing patches.
I saw these birds in Coorg and Wayanad in several locations. They have an extremely large range so you are likely to see them on any birding trip in the Western Ghats of India (Central Asia) or all over South-east Asia.
